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FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES

RETOLD

FIFTY FAMOUS

STORIES RETOLD

BY

JAMES BALDWIN

YESTERDAY'S CLASSICS

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

Cover and arrangement © 2005 Yesterday's Classics.

This edition, first published in 2005 by

Yesterday's Classics, is an unabridged

republication of the work originally published by

American Book Company in 1896. For a listing

of books published by Yesterday's Classics, please visit www.yesterdaysclassics.com. Yesterday's

Classics is the publishing arm of the Baldwin

Project which presents the complete text of

dozens of classic books for children at www.mainlesson.com under the editorship of Lisa

M. Ripperton and T. A. Roth.

ISBN-10: 1-59915-006-9

ISBN-13: 978-1-59915-006-2

Yesterday's Classics

PO Box 3418

Chapel Hill, NC 27515

CONTENTS

KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES .........................................1 KING ALFRED AND THE BEGGAR......................................4 KING CANUTE ON THE SEASHORE....................................7 THE SONS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR....................11 THE WHITE SHIP...................................................................15 KING JOHN AND THE ABBOT............................................19 A STORY OF ROBIN HOOD .................................................26 BRUCE AND THE SPIDER....................................................32 THE BLACK DOUGLAS........................................................34 THREE MEN OF GOTHAM...................................................38 OTHER WISE MEN OF GOTHAM........................................41 THE MILLER OF THE DEE...................................................46 SIR PHILIP SIDNEY...............................................................49 THE UNGRATEFUL SOLDIER.............................................51 SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT...................................................54 SIR WALTER RALEIGH........................................................56 60
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS HATCHET .................62 GRACE DARLING..................................................................65 THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL.........................................68 ARNOLD WINKELRIED........................................................71 THE BELL OF ATRI...............................................................74 HOW NAPOLEON CROSSED THE ALPS............................81 THE STORY OF CINCINNATUS ..........................................83 THE STORY OF REGULUS...................................................88 CORNELIA'S JEWELS...........................................................91 ANDROCLUS AND THE LION.............................................94 HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE...............................................98 JULIUS CAESAR....................................................................102 THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES............................................104

CONTENTS

DAMON AND PYTHIAS......................................................108 A LACONIC ANSWER.........................................................111 THE UNGRATEFUL GUEST...............................................113 ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS...................................116 DIOGENES THE WISE MAN...............................................119 THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED........................................122 SOCRATES AND HIS HOUSE.............................................124 THE KING AND HIS HAWK...............................................125 DOCTOR GOLDSMITH........................................................ 130
THE KINGDOMS..................................................................132 THE BARMECIDE FEAST...................................................136 THE ENDLESS TALE...........................................................140 THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT..........................143 MAXIMILIAN AND THE GOOSE BOY.............................145 THE INCHCAPE ROCK........................................................151 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT..........................................154 .........167 ANTONIO CANOVA............................................................170 ......176 ........181

CONCERNING THESE STORIES

THERE are numerous time-honored stories which

have become so incorporated into the literature and thought of our race that a knowledge of them is an indispensable part of one's education. These stories are of several different classes. To one class belong the popular fairy tales which have delighted untold generations of children, and will continue to delight them to the end of time. To another class belong the limited number of fables that have come down to us through many channels from hoar antiquity. To a third belong the charming stories of olden times that are derived from the literatures of ancient peoples, such as the Greeks and the Hebrews. A fourth class includes the half-legendary tales of a distinctly later origin, which have for their subjects certain romantic episodes in the lives of well-known heroes and famous men, or in the history of a people.

It is to this last class that most of the fifty

stories contained in the present volume belong. As a matter of course, some of these stories are better known, and therefore more famous, than others. Some have a slight historical value; some are useful as giving point to certain great moral truths; others are products solely of the fancy, and are intended only to amuse. Some are derived from very ancient sources, and are current in the literature of many lands; some have come to us through the ballads and folk tales of the English people; a few are of quite recent origin; nearly all are the subjects of frequent allusions in poetry and prose and in the conversation of educated people. Care has been taken to exclude everything that is not strictly within the limits of probability; hence there is here no trespassing upon the domain of the fairy tale, the fable, or the myth.

That children naturally take a deep interest in

such stories, no person can deny; that the reading of them will not only give pleasure, but will help to lay the foundation for broader literary studies, can scarcely be doubted. It is believed, therefore, that the present collection will be found to possess all educative value which will commend it as a supplementary reader in the middle primary grades at school. It is also hoped that the book will prove so attractive that it will be in demand out of school as well as in.

Acknowledgments are due to Mrs. Charles A.

Lane, by whom eight or ten of the stories were

suggested. 1

KING ALFRED AND THE

CAKES

MANY years ago there lived in England a wise

and good king whose name was Alfred. No other man ever did so much for his country as he; and people now, all over the world, speak of him as

Alfred the Great.

In those days a king did not have a very easy

life. There was war almost all the time, and no one else could lead his army into battle so well as he. And so, between ruling and fighting, he had a busy time of it indeed.

A fierce, rude people, called the Danes, had

come from over the sea, and were fighting the English. There were so many of them, and they were so bold and strong, that for a long time they gained every battle. If they kept on, they would soon be the masters of the whole country.

At last, after a great battle, the English army

was broken up and scattered. Every man had to save himself in the best way he could. King Alfred fled alone, in great haste, through the woods and swamps.

FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES RETOLD

2

Late in the day the king came to the hut of a

woodcutter. He was very tired and hungry, and he begged the woodcutter's wife to give him something to eat and a place to sleep in her hut.

The woman was baking some cakes upon the

hearth, and she looked with pity upon the poor, ragged fellow who seemed so hungry. She had no thought that he was the king. "Yes," she said, "I will give you some supper if you will watch these cakes. I want to go out and milk the cow; and you must see that they do not burn while I am gone."

King Alfred was very willing to watch the

cakes, but he had far greater things to think about.

How was he going to get his army together again?

And how was he going to drive the fierce Danes out of the land? He forgot his hunger; he forgot the cakes; he forgot that he was in the woodcutter's hut.

His mind was busy making plans for to-morrow.

In a little while the woman came back. The

cakes were smoking on the hearth. They were burned to a crisp. Ah, how angry she was! "You lazy fellow!" she cried. "See what you have done! You want something to eat, but you do not want to work!"

I have been told that she even struck the king

with a stick; but I can hardly believe that she was so ill-natured.

KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES

3

The king must have laughed to himself at the

thought of being scolded in this way; and he was so hungry that he did not mind the woman's angry words half so much as the loss of the cakes.

I do not know whether he had anything to eat

that night, or whether he had to go to bed without his supper. But it was not many days until he had gathered his men together again, and had beaten the

Danes in a great battle.

4

KING ALFRED AND THE

BEGGAR

AT one time the Danes drove King Alfred

from his kingdom, and he had to lie hidden for a long time on a little island in a river.

One day, all who were on the island, except

the king and queen and one servant, went out to fish. It was a very lonely place, and no one could get to it except by a boat. About noon a ragged beggar came to the king's door, and asked for food.

The king called the servant, and asked, "How

much food have we in the house?" "My lord," said the servant, "we have only one loaf and a little wine."

Then the king gave thanks to God, and said,

"Give half of the loaf and half of the wine to this poor man."

The servant did as he was bidden. The beggar

thanked the king for his kindness, and went on his way.

In the afternoon the men who had gone out

to fish came back. They had three boats full of fish,

KING ALFRED AND THE BEGGAR

5 and they said, "We have caught more fish to-day than in all the other days that we have been on this island."

The king was glad, and he and his people were

more hopeful than they had ever been before.

When night came, the king lay awake for a

long time, and thought about the things that had happened that day. At last he fancied that he saw a great light like the sun; and in the midst of the light there stood an old man with black hair, holding an open book in his hand.

It may all have been a dream, and yet to the

king it seemed very real indeed. He looked and wondered, but was not afraid. "Who are you?" he asked of the old man. "Alfred, my son, be brave," said the man; "for I am the one to whom you gave this day the half of all the food that you had. Be strong and joyful of heart, and listen to what I say. Rise up early in the morning and blow your horn three times, so loudly that the Danes may hear it. By nine o'clock, five hundred men will be around you ready to be led into battle. Go forth bravely, and within seven days your enemies shall be beaten, and you shall go back to your kingdom to reign in peace."

Then the light went out, and the man was

seen no more.

In the morning the king arose early, and

crossed over to the mainland. Then he blew his horn

FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES RETOLD

6 three times very loudly; and when his friends heard it they were glad, but the Danes were filled with fear.

At nine o'clock, five hundred of his bravest

soldiers stood around him ready for battle. He spoke, and told them what he had seen and heard in his dream; and when he had finished, they all cheered loudly, and said that they would follow him and fight for him so long as they had strength.

So they went out bravely to battle; and they

beat the Danes, and drove them back into their own place. And King Alfred ruled wisely and well over all his people for the rest of his days. 7

KING CANUTE ON THE

SEASHORE

A HUNDRED years or more after the time of

Alfred the Great there was a king of England named

Canute. King Canute was a Dane; but the Danes

were not so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were at war with King Alfred.

The great men and officers who were around

King Canute were always praising him.

"You are the greatest man that ever lived," one would say.

Then another would say, "O king! there can

never be another man so mighty as you."

And another would say, "Great Canute, there

is nothing in the world that dares to disobey you."

The king was a man of sense, and he grew

very tired of hearing such foolish speeches.

One day he was by the seashore, and his

officers were with him. They were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing. He thought that now he would teach them a lesson, and so he bade them

FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES RETOLD

8 set his chair on the beach close by the edge of the water. "Am I the greatest man in the world?" he asked. "O king!" they cried, "there is no one so mighty as you." "Do all things obey me?" he asked. "There is nothing that dares to disobey you, O king!" they said. "The world bows before you, and gives you honor." "Will the sea obey me?" he asked; and he looked down at the little waves which were lapping the sand at his feet.

The foolish officers were puzzled, but they

did not dare to say "No." "Command it, O king! and it will obey," said one. "Sea," cried Canute, "I command you to come no farther! Waves, stop your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!"

But the tide came in, just as it always did. The

water rose higher and higher. It came up around the king's chair, and wet not only his feet, but also his robe. His officers stood about him, alarmed, and wondering whether he was not mad.

Then Canute took off his crown, and threw it

down upon the sand.

KING CANUTE ON THE SEASHORE

9 "Sea, I command you to come no farther!"

FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES RETOLD

10 "I shall never wear it again," he said. "And do you, my men, learn a lesson from what you have seen. There is only one King who is all-powerful; and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. It is he whom you ought to praise and serve above all others." 11

THE SONS OF WILLIAM THE

CONQUEROR

THERE was once a great king of England who

was called William the Conqueror, and he had three sons.

One day King William seemed to be thinking

of something that made him feel very sad; and the wise men who were about him asked him what was the matter. "I am thinking," he said, "of what my sons may do after I am dead. For, unless they are wise and strong, they cannot keep the kingdom which I have won for them. Indeed, I am at a loss to know which one of the three ought to be the king when I am gone." "O king!" said the wise men, "if we only knew what things your sons admire the most, we might then be able to tell what kind of men they will be.

Perhaps, by asking each one of them a few

questions, we can find out which one of them will be best fitted to rule in your place."quotesdbs_dbs50.pdfusesText_50

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